At our recent monthly club match, three of the six stages used Virginia Count scoring. There was a bit of good-natured grumbling about it, but the stages turned out to be very interesting. A 20-round medium course had a lot of comments and groans from the competitors.
During the brief shooter and staff meeting that we do before shooting commences, I reminded the staff that they need to make sure to count shots on these stages in particular. The discussion made me think about all the situations when we, as range officers, want to be counting the number of shots and decided to put my thoughts about this onto virtual paper. There are two main scenarios that prompt us to count a competitor’s shots: capacity-restricted divisions and Virginia Count or Fixed Time scored stages.
For competitors shooting a capacity-restricted division, such as Limited-10, Production, Single Stack, and Revolver, range officers need to be counting shots to ensure that the number of rounds fired from one magazine or cylinder complies with both the division and power factor requirements listed in Appendix D of the Competition Rules. Rule 6.2.5.1 states that if a competitor’s equipment, including the firearm, does not comply with the division requirements, the competitor will be moved to Open division for the match. This is the dreaded “bump to Open” that you’ll hear mentioned. As an example, if a Production shooter shoots 17 rounds before reloading, he will be moved to Open since the Production magazine capacity limit is now 15 rounds (plus potentially one in the chamber). Range officers counting rounds for the capacity-restricted divisions ensures competitive equity for everyone shooting in those divisions.
Rule 9.2.3 describes Virginia Count scoring and Rule 9.2.4 describes Fixed Time scoring. In both cases, the rulebook states that a limited number of shots can be fired without penalty. That’s why we, as range officers, need to be counting shots fired in these stages. If more than the stipulated number of shots are fired in a stage or string, an extra shot penalty is assessed per Rule 9.4.5.1 for each shot taken over the required number. Remember also that there is a difference between extra shots and extra hits. Extra shots are based on the number of shots fired in a string or stage, and the penalty is assessed as soon as the “Range is Clear” command is given. An extra hit penalty is assessed for each hit in the scoring area of a target in excess of the stipulated number required; extra hit penalties are assessed when the targets are scored. It is common to have extra shots without any extra hits and it is also possible to have extra hits without extra shots.
Another important point is that, when assessing extra shot penalties – and therefore when we count shots – the penalties are only assessed if the total number of shots fired in the stage (or in a string in the case of a Standard Exercise). If a competitor shoots three rounds at a target that requires two hits, but only shoots one round at another, he would not be assessed an extra shot penalty. As range officers, we need to count the total number of shots fired, not the number fired at each target.
In addition to extra shots, several other penalties are assessed based on the number of shots fired. Rules 10.2.1 and 10.2.2 discuss the application of penalties when a competitor touches the ground or an object outside of the shooting area or when he does not comply with the stage procedure. Penalties under these rules are assessed for each shot, up to the maximum number of scoring hits available, if a significant advantage has been gained. Rule 10.2.4 discusses penalties for failing to do a reload when required, and Rule 10.2.8 describes penalties assessed for using the other hand in a strong- or weak-hand only stage; in both cases, the number of penalties is based on the number of shots fired. When assessing penalties under each of these four rules, it is important to know exactly how many shots were fired not only so that we can score the stage correctly, but also so that a competitor does not end up with a reshoot because we don’t know how many shots were taken while not complying.
Over the years of working matches, I have found that I’ve gotten into the habit of always counting shots. It is probably not necessary to do so, but it isn’t a bad practice to get into and that way you don’t have to think about whether counting is necessary or not. One question that I get often is: can’t we just look at the timer to see how many shots it recorded? The short answer is no, we can’t do that. The rulebook doesn’t specifically prohibit this, but it is bad practice for several reasons. Often, the timer will not record shots if the microphone is facing the wrong way, if the competitor is at some distance from the timer, or if the gun is relatively quiet. Also, the timer may pick up other noises and record them as shots. An example is a piece of ejected brass hitting the timer near the microphone and the noise being recorded as a shot. In the Level 1 RO seminars that we instruct, we teach students to watch the timer to make sure it is recording shots and to protect it by moving it away from the firearm during the unload and show clear process, but not to rely on it for the number of shots fired. Counting is a task for the range officers.
As one of the ROs put it during the medium course mentioned above, the exclamations from the shooter and the groans from the gallery made it almost unnecessary to count shots. But, to answer the question posed at the beginning of this post, it is good practice to always count the number of shots fired but it is a must when running a capacity-restricted competitor and on Virginia Count and Fixed Time stages. The reason to do so is to ensure competitive equity for all shooters and to ensure that we are recording an accurate score.